A Little Scratch
by BML Hillen-Keene
Summary: Fill for a Kink Meme Prompt. Pitch tortures Bunny until he reverts to his Mini Bunny form, and then terrorises him some more. Now the Guardians (Jack) have to deal with the aftermath, and it's not pretty.
1. Grooming

_This is why I should not be allowed to frquent Kink Meme's. Sigh. A fill I did for a prompt on the Rise of the Guardians Kink Meme. I just couldn't help myself. Basically the Prompt was that Pitch had kidnapped Bunnymund and tortured him until he became Mini Bunny, and then tortured Mini Bunny. Now I can't really write torture so well, so I was very glad there was an aftermath section. So this is some very traumatised Mini Bunny and the Guardian's looking after him (and by Guardians, I mean Jack) There may be more, I'm leaving it as In progress just incase I feel the need to add more._

**Grooming**

Jack lightly ran the damp cloth over Bunny s fur, aching a little inside at the way Bunny tensed up, he avoided putting the cloth near the ears, despite how soft it was and how badly Bunny's ears needed cleaning, he d only just managed to coax Bunny from underneath the wardrobe to try again, and he was going to avoid making the small creature panic.

-"Would you like a little Scratch behind the ears?"-

Jack would have done something far worse to Pitch if he could get his hands on him. The nightmarish man had done exactly that, had scratched and scratched until fur fell out, skin broke and blood flowed freely, coating the grey and white patterned fur and matting it terribly. Jack wanted nothing more than to get all the blood off him, to patch him up and make all the hurt go away.

But Bunny was not himself, too skittish, frightened. He hadn t uttered a word since they found him that that dingy little cage he'd been kept in, Pitch had not been there, they knew nothing of the horrors Bunny had faced in his captivity, which somehow made it worse.

North had suggested hopefully that perhaps this was a different rabbit, a normal rabbit, not Bunny at all, but Jack knew it was Bunny, even though the green eyes staring up at him in absolute terror were so far removed from the Bunny he knew.

Too soon the cloth was stained in blood and jack had to pause to dip it in the water, forcing himself not to get angry when he saw the red mingle with the clear water. He didn't want to frighten Bunny more than he already had.

Bunny trembled on his lap, and jack was overcome with the urge to cry, because Bunny was not supposed to be this way. Not even when the children had stopped believing in him, he d stayed strong in his own way, had been the same Bunny he s always known even in the smaller body.

But now when the tears started to fall he felt Bunny hesitate and hoped waited for him to do something normal, say something, anything. He broke a little inside when Bunny shakily jumped from his lap, landing awkwardly on the ground and pulled himself, hurt leg trailing behind, back underneath the wardrobe again.

The tears came full force and he forced himself up and to the door, trying to block out the distraught keening that was not his.

_I feel a little evil now. Poor Bunny!_


	2. Helpless

_Another bit. North's POV, which is quite difficult. I was trying for how the other Guardians would feel, but I'm not sure I managed it too well. No Matter, more Bunny soon (hopefully)_

**Helpless**

North sat, as if weighed down, in his chair, watching with shadowed eyes as Tooth flitted about, restless and disturbed. She had been in constant motion since they had returned, spurred to greater, and more random bursts of motion than normal when she had realised her flitting had terrified Bunny. She had tried to still, be as motionless as possible, but even the reflex twitch of her wings had sent Bunny completely still, and then the keening had begun.

Rabbits, as a general rule didn't make noise until frightened and the terrible, terrible sound coming from that tiny body had made them all shrink back. Tooth had tried to move forward, tried to comfort and Bunny had just keened louder, visibly shaking, wide eyes glued to the quicksilver motion of Tooth's Wings.

North had stepped forward to pull Tooth back, because she looked about to burst into tears herself. As his shadow fell over Bunny the keening grew higher , Bunny's small flanks moved rapidly, and North was stunned and could not for a second move.

"Aster…" he breathed, and he must had made some motion towards the Pooka because he burst into a flurry of terrified motion, throwing himself at the bars of the small cage that he could not get out of.

"Sandy!" Tooth broke out, tears streaming down her face.

But Sandy's dream sand when it appeared drover Bunny to even greater lengths trying to escape.

"Stop it!" Jack had whispered, and tugged them all back, away until Bunny stopped and panted at the bottom of the cage.

Jack had been the one to coax Bunny out of the cage, which soothing words and soft hands, he'd been the one to take Bunny back to North's workshop. He'd been the one to shoo them all out of the room when their continued presence sent Bunny scrabbling to hide under the wardrobe in the room they had chosen to care for him

Jack had not emerged from that room in nearly two hours and they were all feeling more and more anxious as time moved on. More and more helpless.

Pitch was nowhere to be found, Sandy had taken off only an hour ago, unable to take the waiting any longer, to search for Pitch, to try and find out what had happened. It was the only thing Sandy could do and North envied him, but he couldn't bring himself to move, everything just pressed down on him. Making him completely useless. He could not even comfort Tooth who was becoming more and more distressed as time went on.

The he heard it, that dreadful keening again. Tooth startled but before either of them could move Jack was in the room and falling into Tooth's arms, sobbing.

What could they do? Was there anything? Was this how it was always going to be?

He couldn't bring himself to move even now, just watched with a heavy heart how Jack cried and Tooth clutched at him, desperate to do something, to help in some way.

Bunny's shrill cries of distress seemed to linger on long after the noise itself had stopped, laying heavily on each of them


	3. Safe

_Um… Sorry, this fic is getting away with me a little. Lol._

It was quiet in the room, there were still noises, but they were far away, not inside the room. His ears were hurting, they were always hurting. He couldn't remember if they had ever _not _hurt. He twitched, burying his nose into his forepaws, watching with wary eyes the room beyond the wardrobe he had squeezed himself under.

He would stay here he decided. It wasn't his cage, but it was small, and the spaces too small for big things to get in. Things like hands. Like the shadows that tormented him. His cage was a safe place, the only place he was safe.

But he knew better than to fight the hands that took him out, that stroked him gently, whispering soft, soothing words to him, that scratched, and scratched and scratch—

His ears twitched reflexively, sending a wave of pain through him.

-_"Such a good boy. Such a good pet."_—

His eyes darted, hearing the whispers again, nose twitching. But there was never any scent, never any warning. The cold on his back had melted, like it always did, slid away slowly, leaving him chilled in it's wake, shivering.

It hadn't been as bad, and he'd been allowed to limp back his cage, an action normally punished quickly by the Nightmares, who nipped at him and chased him until he ran back to their master… his master? Owner? Cowering at his feet until he was lifted and returned to the cold again.

But the Nightmares were not in this room, but they were outside, he was sure of it. But for now he was safe. It wasn't his cage, but for now it would do. He was safe.

Until the soft hands came back…

_Heh heh… yeah, told you it was running away with me._


	4. A good sign?

_Ok, next part_

They'd taken Bunny to the Warren, hoping that maybe some familiar surroundings might help. Jack was the one left to look after him. It wasn't a decision anyone had come to lightly, but Jack was the only one Bunny would let near him, and they hoped that maybe if they were not around, Bunny would start to come back to himself.

That had been weeks ago and Jack was starting to really despair. He'd done his best to make sure Bunny was ok, had made sure he'd eaten and stayed out of the way as much as he could, trying to draw him out. But Bunny had made a beeline for the smallest place he could and hidden there.

How long was it supposed to take? Was he doing the right thing, leaving Bunny to himself? Should he be pushing harder, trying to break down whatever defences Bunny had put up to keep himself safe from Pitch? The other Guardians were as helpless as him, more so, because they could not even get near Bunny.

He lay, stretched out on one of the grassy knolls, picked specially so he could see Bunny's little hideout easily, and contemplated what he could do. It would be winter in a few weeks and he would need to start bringing the snow, but fun might be a little harder to do.

His mind then flashed to Easter, what was going to happen if Bunny wasn't better by Easter? Would they be able to pull something together? Jack didn't want Bunny to stop existing, but what could they do to make it work?

He was so preoccupied with his thoughts that he almost missed it. He stilled completely, hardly daring to even breathe. Bunny was at the riverside. A series to terrified thoughts ran rampant through his mind, Would Bunny jump in? Did he intend to try and kill himself? Could he kill himself? Long grass had hidden Bunny's journey from his little hideaway to the river, and Jack wondered how often Bunny had left his hole to be outside.

Was this a good sign?

He tensed when Bunny leaned close to the colourful water, ready to spring up and pull him clear if he had to. But Bunny's paw darted down and into the water, coming back up soaked in paint and with a quick, nervous look around, focusing the longest on Jack himself as if to determine if he was sleeping or not, Bunny turned and disappeared back into the grass.

Jack relaxed a little, turning onto his side and curling up so he could watch more closely, but Bunny did not make a return trip.

It was a good sign, Jack decided, because he really, really needed it to be.

_So… still enjoying this? I hope you are anyway._


End file.
